Grave vault fastening mechanism



July 31, 1 934. B K 1,968,594

GRAVE VAULT FASTE NING MECHANISM Filed July 11, 1933 $02 and the accompanying drawing wherein:

' retaining cam in contact with the side wall of the taken through a portion of the base on the plane Patented July 31, 1934 GRAVE VAULT FAs'rEnIn MECHANISM Allen F. Beck, Columbus, 0hio,assignor to The Clark Grave Vault Company, Columbus, Ohio,

a corporation of Ohio Application Julyll, 1933, Serial No. 679,930

3 Claims. (01. 292- 224) This invention relates to improvements in grave vaults. and has particular reference to an improved. grave vault base wherein novel fastening means are provided for connecting the base with a separable hood or cover section.

deviceswhich are carried by the depending side walls of the base and cooperate with associated spring means to'engage with internal portions of the vault hood to holdthe latter securely in connection with the base when desired.

It has been proposed heretofore to provide fasteners for connecting the separable hood and base sections. of a grave vault in secured relationship wherein the fasteners. employ sliding spring pressed plungers or bolts. Such prior devices however have been extremely heavy, relatively expensive to manufacture, are quite likely to become out of order and are relatively noisy when operated, audit is therefore a further. object of the invention to overcome these objections, among others, by the provision of an improved fastening means carried in connection with the corner portions of a vault base and wherein each fastener comprises a pivoted latch suspended from the side wall of the base and formed with inwardly extending ears which pass through slots provided in said side wall, the inner ends of said ears being formed for the pivotal support of a retaining cam disposed within the confines of the vault base and which cam upon beingrocked about its pivotal mounting on said ears'into and out of coaction with the inner surface of thebase side wall controlstheextended or retracted positions of said latch wherebyto regul'ateflthe fasteningof the vaultf hoodiinconnection therewith.

For a further understanding of the invention, reference is to be had to the following description Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a grave vault base formed in accordance with the present invention and provided with the improved fastening means;

Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical sectional view indicated by the line II-II of Fig. 1, and disclosing the pivoted latch of the fastener in its active or extended position;

Fig. 3 is a similar view disclosing the latch in base;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional View taken on the plane indicated by the line IV-IV of Fig. 2

and disclosing in rear elevation the vault fastening means;

Fig. 5 is a' detail perspective view of the pivoted latch of the fastening means; V

Fig. 6 is'a similar view of the pivoted retaining 0* cam which is normally carried by the inwardly extending ears of said latch;

Fig. 7 is a detail perspective View of the spring employedfor normally maintaining the latch in an extended position.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the numeral 1 designates the rectangular base of a grave vault in its entirety. -The base, as usual,- is formed from sheet metal and comprises a flat horizontal top wall 2, depending substantially 7 verticalside walls 3, and an outwardly directed substantially horizontal base flange 4, the above parts being of integral formation and pressed usually from a single sheet of metal. The hood of the vault has its depending vertical side walls 5 provided, as shown in Fig. 2,.at the lower edges thereof with an inturned flange 6 which is adapted to seat upon the upper surface of the base flange 4, the flange 6 terminating, in turn, in an upturned substantially vertically disposed rib 7.

To fasten the hood in connection with the base, the side walls'3.of the latter are formed, contiguous to their opposite longitudinal ends, with depressed sockets 8. These sockets are each providewith'the pivoted fastening means comprising the essential part of the present invention.

To eifect the mounting of the fastening means, each of the sockets 8 is formed contiguous to its upper. end with an elongated horizontally disposed slot 9, which is adapted for the reception of the bent fulcruming extremity 10 of a pivoted latch-member 11. This latch member is prefer-1 ably stamped, or otherwise formed, from sheet metal and includes a body 12 which terminates at its sides in angularly bent, spaced, parallel and inwardly extending ears 13, the latter being movably received within spaced parallel vertical slots 14 formed in the depressed portions 8 of the base.

A bent bow or leaf spring 15 is carried by each fastener and has its hooked upper edge 16 inserted in the slot 9 below the fulcruming extremity 10 of the latch member 11, while the outer or lower end of the spring 15 engages with the inner corresponding portion of the body 12 of said latch. Lateral movement of the spring is precluded by its manner of positioning in the slot 9 and by contact with the inner surfaces of the ears 13. The normal tendency of the spring 15 is to hold its associated latch in the extended position disclosed in Fig. 2. When in this position, it will be observed members positively retained inactive.

? iture of time and cost.

that the lower edges of the ears 13 overlie the upper edges of the ribs '7 formed in connection with the vault hood, thus preventing the lifting of the vault hood to separate the same from the base.

It is often desirable, however, to hold the latches 11 in retracted positions so that the vault hood may be readily lifted and separated from the base. Therefore, to hold the latches in their retracted positions, as shown in Fig. 3, the inner ends of the ears 13, where they project into the confines of the side walls 3, are provide with registering apertures 17 which receive lugs 18 integrally projecting from pivoted retaining cams 19, there being a cam for each latch. These retaining camsare also stamped, if desired, from sheet metal and include curved finger engaging portions 20 on one side of the lugs 18 and securing wedge portions 21 on the opposite sides of said lugs. It will be observed that to retain the latches in their retracted positions, it is simply necessary to rotate the retain-w ing cams about the axes provided by their lugs 18. This brings the outer edge of the wedge portions 21 into frictional contact with the inner surfaces of the walls 3, causing the retraction of said latches from extended active positionsto withdrawn inactive positions, where the latches clear the ribs 7. When the latches are retracted, the cams 19 are retained in wedging engagement with the inner surfaces of the sidewalls 3 by the pressure exerted by the confined springs'15 so that slipping of the retaining cams from these operating positions is precluded and the latch It will be observed that the cams may be reached for actuation from the under side of the vault base, which is open so as to admit of the convenient grasping of the manually actuated cams. Withdrawal of the fulcruming portionslO of the latches from the 40 i slots 9 is prevented by the integral downturned fingers 22, which hold the latch'members secure in connection with their pivotal mountings.

In view of the foregoing, it will be seen that the present invention provides a simple, economical yet efiicient means for fastening a vault hood to a cooperative base section. The construction avoids many of the objections noted in fasteners heretoiore employed in this connection, particularly in the-matter of eliminating unnecessary weight, noise in operation and relativelyhigli manufacturing costs. ent invention is composed mainly of metallic stampings which can be readily assembled in connection with the vault base at a minimum expend- While I'have described what I consider tobe the preferred form of the present invention, nevertheless it will be under The fastener comprising the pres- ;prising a metallic body portion terminating at its upper end in a hooked fulcruming extremity arranged to be received within said horizontal slot, a pair of ears formed with the sides of said body and movably received within said vertical slots, spring means normally tending to maintain said body in an extended position, and a pivoted retaining cam carried by the inner ends of said ears, said retaining cam being cooperative with the inner surface of the side wall of said base for retaining said body in its inactive position against the pressure exerted thereon by said spring.

2. In a grave vault including a base section having a depending side wall, said side wall being provided with a locally depressed portion, said depressed portion having a horizontally extending slot and a pair of spaced vertically disposed slots below the horizontal slot, a latch assembly comprising a latch body having a hooked upper end receivable withinthe horizontal slot'to admit of pivotal movement of the latch body with respect to said side wall, a spring having a hooked upper end received Within said horizontal slot, the other end of said spring engaging said latch body to normally maintain the latter in an ex tended position, spaced ears formed at the sides of said latch body and movably received within the vertical slots formed in said side wall, the inner ends of said ears being formed with openings, and a retaining cam provided at the sides with lugs engaged in the openings of said ears to effect the pivotal support of said retaining cam in connection with said ears and within the confines of said side wall, said retaining cam being movable into engagement with the inner surface of said side wall to hold said latch body in a retracted position against the influence of said spring.

3. A latch comprising a flat latching member pivotally mounted upon a wall and having ears extending'rearwardlythereof through the wall, andan operating leverfpi'votally connected to the ears'and having a cam portion adapted to bear against the wall during pivotal movement of the lever to retract the'latching member.

' ALLEN F. BECK. 

